Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
This invention relates generally to rehabilitation or bariatric beds that are used to accommodate an obese person. More particularly, the invention relates to a bariatric bed that is foldable into a configuration making it easy to transport.
Overweight people are commonly referred to as being obese. These obese people often require special care, either at home or in a care-giving facility. One of the pieces of equipment frequently used in the care of obese people is a rehabilitation or bariatric bed. These beds are specifically designed to address the special needs required in the care of an obese person. For example, these beds are designed to place the obese person in a variety of positions. Thus, the beds are usually capable of independently and selectively elevating or lowering both the head and foot of the bed, as well as being capable of simultaneously raising or lowering the bed frame relative to the floor. Also, these beds are designed to independently raise the portion of the mattress in the area of the obese person""s knee relative to the bed frame and raising the entire head and torso portion of the mattress relative to the bed frame. Such positioning is often necessary to place the obese person in a sitting position.
Rehabilitation beds are often called upon to accommodate persons whose weight may exceed 400 pounds. As a consequence, these rehabilitation beds must be wide enough to accommodate the obese person. Because of their width, the prior art rehabilitation beds are difficult to transport from one room to another. In the past, the prior art beds were disassembled into separate sections before moving the bed into another room. Once at the desired location, the prior art bed would be reassembled. This disassembly and assembly process is a difficult and time consuming process. Often, the process requires two people to properly align the two separate sections of the bed so that they can properly be assembled. The second person is needed because the bed is both heavy and awkward to handle.
Another problem existing with prior art rehabilitation beds relates to their length. The standard prior art rehabilitation bed is designed to accommodate the height of a great majority of obese persons. However, a certain number of obese persons are tall enough so as to be unable to comfortably fit on the standard rehabilitation bed. The prior art beds do not offer a mechanism for increasing the length thereof to accommodate any of these taller obese persons.
Similarly, the width of the standard mattress support frame for a prior art rehabilitation bed will accommodate a mattress wide enough to support a great majority of obese persons. However, there are some obese persons that are large enough that the standard width mattress will not comfortably provide support. In these instances, it would be desirable to provide a rehabilitation bed with a mattress support frame capable of selectively providing support for a wider mattress. The process of adding width to the mattress support frame needs to be as simple and quick as possible so that the change in mattress width is easily accomplished.
Yet another problem associated with existing prior art beds relates to the way in which the bed is elevated and lowered. Some prior art beds tend to move in a xe2x80x9ccaterpillarxe2x80x9daction away from the wall and into the middle of the room. It is preferable, as would be understood, for the bed to remain in one position during its use.
Therefore, a rehabilitation bed for accommodating an obese person is needed that overcomes the above drawbacks and disadvantages existing in the prior art.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rehabilitation bed for accommodating an obese person that does not need to be disassembled for the transportation thereof.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a rehabilitation bed for accommodating an obese person with an assembly that can be folded into a relatively narrow construction for transport from one room to another.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a rehabilitation bed for accommodating an obese person with a mechanism that allows the overall length of the bed to be selectively increased to accommodate taller persons.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a rehabilitation bed for accommodating an obese person that employs a relatively simple mechanism which allows for a wider mattress support frame to accommodate different widths of mattresses.
To accomplish these and other related objects, a rehabilitation bed for accommodating an obese person is provided. The bed has a center frame section with first and second ends. A transport assembly is coupled to the center frame section that has at least one pair of transport wheels depending downwardly from the center frame section. A head base frame is pivotally coupled to the one end of the center frame section and a foot base frame is pivotally coupled to the other end of the center frame section. A patient support surface is coupled to the center frame section, the head base frame and the foot base frame that is adapted to provide support for a mattress for the bed. The bed may thus be unfolded for use by a person with the head base frame, center frame section and the foot base frame located in substantially the same plane. The head base frame and foot base frame may also be pivoted upwardly relative to the center frame section leaving the transport wheels in contact with the ground so that the bed is easily transportable from room to room.
Additional objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned from practice of the invention.